Little League beats majors to instituting instant replay

Wednesday

Jul 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2008 at 10:50 AM

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Little League Baseball will use instant replay at this year's World Series to review questionable home runs and other close plays at the outfield fence, beating the major leagues in instituting a system to review some disputed calls.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Little League Baseball will use instant replay at this year's World Series to review questionable home runs and other close plays at the outfield fence, beating the major leagues in instituting a system to review some disputed calls.

The limited replay system would be in place on an experimental basis when the 2008 tournament begins Aug. 15 and be reevaluated after the series, Little League president Stephen Keener said yesterday.

Replay would be used "to overturn an obvious wrong," said Dennis Lewin, chairman of Little League's Board of Directors.

The rule limits replay to instances in which a batted ball "leaves the field of play at or near the outfield fence, or should have been ruled out of the field of play" at or near the fence.

A Little League "game operations replay official" would need "clear and convincing" evidence to overturn an umpire's ruling on the field, according to the rule.

Replays would likely be rarely used, Keener said, and if used would likely cause a delay of 30 to 45 seconds.

"I think that's easily a fair trade-off," he said. "I think everyone would agree that getting it right is most important."

Instant replay has been a hot topic in Major League Baseball this season after a rash of blown or disputed home run calls. Commissioner Bud Selig said earlier this month that the league is still looking into using replay in a limited form, possibly before the postseason.

But the timing of Little League's decision had more to do with logistics. Keener began looking into replay after a 2005 U.S. semifinal game between Maitland, Fla., and Rancho Buena Vista, Calif.

An apparent three-run homer by Maitland's Mike Tomlinson was instead ruled a ground-rule double by left-field umpire Steve Oullet; replays from the ESPN telecast showed the ball hit the netting attached to the foul pole before bouncing back onto the field -- meaning it should have been a home run.

Keener said it was important for all games in a tournament to have access to replay if the rule was going to be implemented. Little League revisited the issue again this past summer and went to ESPN recently to iron out technicalities before deciding to use replay this year.

Players, managers or umpires on the field cannot request a review; that responsibility will rest with the Little League replay official and an umpire in the booth under the stands in Lamade Stadium.

The replay umpire would consult the Little League official, though it would ultimately be up to the Little League official alone to uphold or overturn the call on the field.

"We wanted to make the decision as impersonal as possible," Little League spokesman Lance Van Auken said in explaining the decision to give the league replay official the final say.

Tournament umpires can only officiate in South Williamsport once in their careers. They are evaluated by Little League and invited to umpire at the World Series. Those umpires can often develop friendships, so the replay setup limits any personal pressure that the replay umpire might feel, Van Auken said.

Using replay wasn't a slight against umpires, Keener said, but another tool for umpires on the field.

Little League's approach is similar to that used by the NFL, said Lewin, a former broadcasting executive with the NFL who helped develop that league's replay system.

There are no plans to use replay for other calls, such as ball or strike counts. Other uses could be possible in the future, Lewin said in a phone interview, but "let's walk before we run."

Up to 12 cameras are used at each of the two Little League World Series stadiums for games. A home run call might have about four or five different available replay angles, said Tim Scanlan, ESPN's vice president of event production.